The Wall Street "rescue" and our economy of credit

So, by now I feel obliged to spew a little venom on this financial crisis. First of all, I'm reminded of an old adage from my "working" days: lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine. Tragically, and as nice as it sounds, it never played for me at work either. So, it is my emergency, whether I like it or not. Someone higher up screwed up, and I can't just say "No, I won't help," and make it go away.

C'mon! No one wants to "rescue" Wall Street. Those idiots trashed our economy, took the money, and ran. There's a hot, sticky place in Hell for people who do that sort of thing, whether it's illegal or not. (Maybe something with vinyl car seats?) But like it or not, we have to clean up after them.

So, give the government control of the firm, and when the market (eventually) rebounds, let We the People get some of the profit from it. Or something like that. Don't just give the idiots more money. And don't give it without some oversight. 'Cause let's admit it -- we're not out of the economic woods yet, and there's going to be a steady stream of companies tanking. We need a vehicle in place to handle these events in the future, but we need some congressional control. That's what this is all about.

See, I thought that the congress had ironed out these details and were going to vote on it today. But no, it seems that our illustrious representatives are split pretty much on political lines: those in a close race for re-election voted "no", and those secure in their jobs voted "yes". So, the economy is going deeper in to the dumper because representatives are pandering to their electorate and refusing to be grownups and approve this repugnant but necessary plan.

What the average American doesn't realize just yet is that this economy doesn't run on Dunkin', it runs on credit. And apparently, it's not just the big guys. Turns out that there's a small-business equivalent of "Can I borrow a $20 until payday?" It's, "Can I borrow a little to cover payroll until I can cash the check my client just sent me?" And it also turns out, it's pretty common practice. Unfortunately, until these bozos in congress can agree on terms, some people are simply not being paid. I'm betting those people could help congress figure something out...

So get off your butts you idiots! Take the Yom Kippur break to reflect on your sins. Return renewed, emboldened, and ready to do your jobs.

The Plague and its aftermath

Well, it's been a few weeks, hasn't it? We've taken a serious hit in the last three weeks, as the plague has passed through the family. The Husband started three weeks ago with a cold that just kept getting worse. For two straight weeks. The Boy fell next, puking at 12:30 am with a fever of 102. Then I came down with a mider version of it. The Girl has just been lurking around the house for a week, sniffling and complaining that her nose is "leaking".

Now, for most families, this wouldn't be so bad, but our family operates as The Team. I'm in charge of bringing food home, packing it away, and cooking it. The Husband is in charge of cleaning up afterward. I can clean and put clutter away, but it doesn't really look good until he tidies it. And he does all the laundry. (Apparently, there's a system, so I only screw it up when I try to help.) When a child pukes in the middle of the night, I'm in charge of cleaning the child, and he's in charge of cleaning the bed. In under 4 minutes, the kid is clean and back in a clean bed. We're a machine. It's a product of having twins. Pure self-defense.

The Team is golden until someone gets sick, and then we each get a refresher course on what the other one does. I always lock up the house at bed time. He always throws out yesterday's paper. I always make more granola. He always makes the coffee in the morning. Ahhh. Life is good. My man makes the coffee...

Homeschool support group (or something like it)

Oye. Went to the homeschool "support" group. Yeah. Now I have curriculum insecurity again.

And don't tell me that homeschooled kids aren't weird, because they are. (Sorry, folks!) All of the seriously homeschooled kids that I have met so far seem to have the same quirky, intelligent, semi-sedated look on their faces. They expect to be treated like adults. Heck, they even seem to think like adults. Even when they're goofing around, they just aren't petty or immature enough in their behavior to pass for public school kids. The real question is, "Which version of 'child' is the correct one?"

And my poor brain keeps asking me, "How do I get one of those?!"

Fall, wherever it may find itself...

Well, it's mid-September, and I'm guessing that somewhere Up North, it's getting on toward fall. I've seen (and discarded) the L.L. Bean catalogues -- I know it's out there somewhere. Unfortunately for us, Down South, it's going to be hellishly hot for another month. Then it'll only be hot until Thanksgiving. Fortunately for us, my sister just moved to the mountains, and we have reservations at Chez Soeur for a week in mid-October. I figured it was about time for the kids' tree-and-leaf unit. Plus, she really needs the incentive to unpack. She's my sister. I would know.

The homeschool schedule is starting to even out a little. We do a little handwriting, spelling, and writing first, then we get something to nibble on. Then we do either science ("Living Things") or history (ancient cultures). After a serious snack, we go on to arithmetic (clocks, place value, and a lot of A Beka). A little TV and lunch follow, with time off for good behavior. Then we're back to reading and writing by mid-afternoon.

It was starting to feel like it's taking twice as long as it should -- until I remembered the credo of the twin mom: Everything takes twice as long. Duh. I'm teaching two completely different homeschool classes. The only thing we share (sometimes) is science and maybe history. We overlap a little on spelling, handwriting, and journal writing, but the rest is at totally different levels. Which would be okay if one of them would work independently, but (as you'll recall) I have ADD boy and autistic girl. *sigh* It's almost time to get them up and moving again...

Tonight is the meeting at the Baptist church for the local F.A.I.T.H. homeschool group. I'm not sure what to expect, but I'm keeping my mouth shut this time. Oh, okay. I'm going to try to keep my mouth shut. Experience has shown that when I'm nervous, I talk too much. (No. Really?) I may drop by after I pick up the Food Coop order. Not sure. Not sure I want to go...

On a lighter note, sort of...

I'm starting to suspect that there are rifts in the homeschool community, and that they're not pretty. I may be paranoid, but I'm already getting "don't contaminate our quality learning environment with your weirdos" vibes already. Is it me, or are there several distinct classes of homeschoolers? I can count only four:

1. those who are trying to produce the next Secretary of State
2. those who are trying to keep their children free from the taint of society's intellectual tyrrany
3. those who are trying to cloister their children from the influence of The Sinful World
4. those whom whom the public schools have failed and have chosen homeschooling as their salvation and refuge

Is it me, or does the first group tend to hold the rest of us in suspicion and mild distain?

9-11

We lived within a two-hour drive of NYC on 9-11. It was a gorgeous day for mid-September -- a bit too cool for a fleece jacket, bright blue sky, brisk wind. I was dressing the kids, almost two years old by then, for walk in the stroller when I got the phone call from my husband. He had been watching the smoking wreck of the first tower on TV, and while he had me on the phone, the second tower was hit. The kids and I went walking anyway, praying mightily for a people who hated us enough to kill us all.

The Thursday after, I went to a service at the Episcopal church and sang with strangers:

"God bless our native land,
firm may she ever stand,
through storm and might.
When the wild tempest raves,
ruler of wind and wave,
do thou our country save
by thy great might."

I'll never sing that song again without crying.

Homeschool PE and other stuff

Well, I met my first group of local homeschool moms today. No one prepared me for how reserved they are. It was like a convention of librarians at the YMCA Homeschool PE class today. Tragically, that sort of environment always makes me more frenetic, and so now they all think I'm a wack-ster. They still invited me to the Official Group at the local Baptist church. Oh well.

The Boy participated in Homeschool PE and didn't hurt anyone. The Girl didn't participate, but the staff understood. The silver lining? I only have to pay for one kid. Yay, I guess.

In other "good" news, the pediatrician agrees with me -- she wants a psychiatrist to evaluate The Boy before he gets any anti-anxiety meds. That's, umm, good, right? *sigh*

the pediatrician and wild-and-happy kids

I'm taking The Boy to the pediatrician tomorrow to ask about his anxiety level. I think it's past anything he should have to endure. He's afraid of library books, little kids, anything old, and (for some reason) the middle of the tub. Somehow, he thinks they have some kind of germ-like contagion. (Last month, he saw an ad on TV for Shriner's Hospital, and he spent a week belly-crawling across the living room to avoid the sickness. He also wouldn't eat anything from the kitchen countertop that is behind that television.) On top of that, when he has to work with other kids, he gets so stressed that he starts hitting them when something goes wrong. Yikes. Some days are better than others, but I really have to do something about it. I'm not sure what I'm willing to do, but I'm hoping she can find me a good psychiatrist in the area.

The kids have been wild and happy today, and I'm exhausted. We didn't get enough done, so I'm frustrated, too. It seems like anything that doesn't get done before lunch just doesn't get done. And now, I'm going to miss two hours tomorrow for a doctor's appointment. Yayyyy...

household injuries and curriculum creep

I don't know what percentage of injuries happen in the home, but they seem to be happening to me more often lately. Last week, it was a stabbing pain from all the eye-rolling over the political conventions. Today it was neck pain. The Boy (who frankly doesn't need any more phobias) ran across a huge, tan palmetto bug this morning, which I was forced to kill all by myself. (For those of you from Up North, "palmetto bug" is a southern euphemism for "huge honkin' roach".) Apparently, The Husband saw it this morning, but couldn't catch it in time. Patrick and I "luckily" found it upside down, waving its spiny legs in the air. The recurring shudders of revulsion are actually giving me neck spasms...

The library's online system is down for another two weeks, and is wreaking havoc on my history curriculum. "You Wouldn't Want to be a Sumerian Slave" is supposedly at our library, but I can't find it, and we won't know for another few weeks when it's coming back. I finally decided to shell out the $10 to Amazon to get it on Wednesday. I hate that.

Curriculum creep has hit our home as well. I was putting together tools for handwriting/spelling and reading comprehension, and I just put too much on the list. The kids got antsy and grumpy on me this morning. They were already on edge about the dinosaur we found in the kitchen this morning. (Ouch, my neck again!) Anyway, it's back to the drawing board. I think the key to getting it all done is to get the nebulous, touchy-feely stuff done first. That means a little spelling/handwriting to start off, then science and history. Then math fits in neatly before lunch. After lunch, we can do reading. The only problem is that I just can't get up the steam to make them write answers to wh- questions on the reading. We're tired. I just want to read, and they just want to be read to. Worse things have happened.

I keep thinking I can combine some activities for the kids, but no. Patrick can draw shapes that look like letters, but they're not formed like letters, and will be impossible to convert into cursive letters. So, we have to start over with manuscript. My esnipe failed to get me a 4th grade A Beka spelling book for The Boy, so that's back to the drawing board. Oh well. Everyone needs a hobby. Right? ;)

Leftovers and looking for bugs (not related thoughts!)

Suburban Correspondent is blogging about leftovers again today. Now that I'm the cafeteria lady at our (home) school, I find we're eating a lot of leftovers during the day. That helps. It also cuts down on my corn chip budget. "Hey! Who wants noodles for lunch?!" "ME! ME!" It's a far cry from last year when The Boy didn't eat from 7am until 7pm because of the ADD meds. I'm loving it.But speaking of leftovers, I did find the "when did we last have" hot dogs in a baggie. How do you tell when they've gone bad, when they don't smell good in the first place? ;)

This morning, I was supposed to prove that a bug is an "organism" because it "develops", "reproduces", and "responds to changes in its environment". Tragically, even this far south, I was hard pressed to find one! Imagine my surprise!! Ordinarily, I'd offer 50 cents to the first child who could bring me a non-stinging, non-flying bug, but no, as is typical for our house, there are no typical chidren here. I did get The Boy to come within three feet of the small, bulbous spider that I did find, but he wasn't happy about it. Hey, I'll take progress where I can find it. (Did you know that when you put a pencil, rock, or anything else in front of a small, bulbous spider, it will try to climb? Cooool. It's responding to changes in its environment!)

I'm still trying to understand the "work in the morning, play in the afternoon" concept of homeschool. I can't get all our work done by noon. Handwriting, vocabulary, reading comprehension, arithmetic, math, and science are enough for my morning. That doesn't account for extra reading, grammar, and history. Maybe it's because my kids need individual instruction, and they trade off their goofing-around time. Maybe it's because I don't skillfully-enough combine the history and reading comprehension. Who knows? Either way, the kids aren't up to going to the "science co-op" with the other homeschool kids anyway. Everyone keeps telling me I'm going to go crazy without a support group. I don't see it yet. Maybe in time, we'll get better about getting our work done and better about hanging with other people. Time will tell.

The Professional Mom and "fall"

The National Geographic Society, that bastion of well-documented scientific discovery, has offered me (ME!) the "Preferred Professional Rate" on an annual subscription. I wonder how they found out I was a professional?! Who knew homeschooling had such global recognition... ;)

You may remember the cold winter days Up North, when you poke your nose out the door, sniff once, your nose hairs freeze, and someone screams, "For God's sake, close the f-ing door!" That's happening here, only it's September and it's too hot to breathe. Ah, Florida in September -- hell on Earth, only made worse by hurricanes, flooding, and the first cool breath of Fall that you know is blowing somewhere Up North. Down here, you poke your head out the door, a blast of hot air hits you like a wet towel, the sun fries the top of your head, and someone screams, "For God's sake, close the f-ing door!"

The Boy asked me if it's "fall" yet. I just didn't know what to say, except, "For God's sake..."

Stone Age Mom

Hey! Yesterday we were doing cave painting. Check it out!

We're painting the animals that we want to get on our next hunt, then we're going to put our hand print to sign it, since we can't read or write. This is The Boy, and I think he's going to be hunting deer, salmon, and that thing in the lower right, which he tells me is a wooly rhinoceros.

Apparently, The Girl likes eating mouse.

We only have wood, stone and animal parts for materials, and we only eat what we can find or chase down and kill. Later this week, we'll be getting into agriculture and clay pots. We're very progressive for stone age people. I imagine pretty soon we'll discover bronze. ;)